What Are Your (Legal- and Business-Related) New Year's Resolutions?
OK, this is just a different (some might say lame) way of asking what your goals are in 2010… but ‘tis the season, eh?
There’s never been more at stake in the legal profession than there is now. There’s a palpable sense of change in the air… especially concerning the new legal model of law firms and the impact it will have on the way law is practiced and billed. But I’m not one to wait around for that to truly happen, so why not start moving forward? Here are just a few of the things attorneys have to tackle in 2010:
True cost containment of legal expenses … If you’re one of the thousands of in-house managers who has taken the reigns of your budget, designed new processes, brought more work in-house, cultivated new outside counsel relationships, and engaged alternative legal services providers… well, here’s hoping that you get more sleep in 2010, because you’ve likely been busier than ever. Those who’ve undertaken the commitment to cost containment should be applauded and hopefully the work they’ve done will make life easier down the road. This process will continue to evolve for these good people, and thousands more will start down this path anew in 2010. The point: This is the new way of life for corporate legal departments.
Alternative Fee Arrangements … Many of you have spent the last few months working on new billing structures with outside counsel, and many are still in the process. There are scores of conflicting reports about these arrangements, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. My guess is that we’ll hear plenty about the arrangements that work – after all, law firms have wonderful PR people – and we won’t hear much about the efforts that fail. But here’s the key: AFAs must be mutually beneficial, or they simply won’t work long-term. A certain amount of risk-sharing must take place and there must be value. I think AFAs have the ability to change the age-old approach utilized within law firms – and who handles what -- but a lot of the AFAs in use might really just be window dressing.
The Document/ESI Retention Policy… Interest in the design of document retention policies (or ESI Management Policies, as Barry likes to say) exploded in 2009. There’s just so much data now that companies are overwhelmed, and everyone is leery of 1) the smoking gun e-mail that’s been sitting in someone’s inbox for six years and 2) getting exposed for not implementing a solid policy. There is an obvious marriage between these two fears that in-house lawyers must officiate, and there’s no sign this responsibility will ebb in 2010. The key is in the implementation, and as our wise scribe Barry likes to say: “If you’re not enforcing your ESI policy, you have no ESI policy.”
Consistency, Process Across the EDRM… Everyone is dealing with e-discovery at some level, and many companies already have created some sort of approach to the actual review of documents when litigation hits. At the same time, most have spent their time and resources trying to figure out the document retention policy first before fully diving into project management, software and the attorney review. But this is where real dollars are saved and the spotlight will continue to shine on the processing, review and production of documents and creating a cohesive model encompassing all phases of the discovery process.
Convenience Versus Cost … Ah, the age-old question! Traditionally, when an in-house department has overflow work, it’s sent to outside counsel. Litigation, due diligence, employment work and other heavy lifting might also be completely turned over to the law firm simply because a department doesn’t have the resources. This approach is being evaluated, to say the least. But it doesn’t end there; many in-house departments now seek unit pricing that blends services (software + attorneys) for e-discovery matters because it makes budgeting easier and there is (or should be) some risk-sharing with the partner. The key for those who must closely monitor their legal spend is to understand that some providers don’t exactly assume any risk in this scenario because of the excessive padding they’ve built into their per-unit price. A general rule of thumb: if you can’t buy a super-value meal for the price you’re paying per-document, you’re paying too much.
Of course there are myriad other issues that in-house managers must create goals around in 2010, and we look forward to discussing many of those in the coming months. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful and prosperous 2010.
